US women’s college soccer star found dead in dorm at age 22

Katie Meyer, the goalkeeper and captain of Stanford's female collegiate soccer team, has been found dead at the age of 22 in a university campus residence on Tuesday. No cause of death has yet been reported.

Meyer had been described as a “a bright shining light for so many” and was credited with being a crucial part of Stanford's NCAA women's soccer championship win in 2019.

In that final match against rivals North Carolina, Meyer saved two penalties to help her team towards victory – with her celebration of one penalty save going viral online and viewed by more than 1.7 million people online.

“Katie was extraordinarily committed to everything and everyone in her world,” Susie Brubaker-Cole and Bernard Muir of Stanford University said of Meyer in a joint statement.

“Her friends describe her as a larger-than-life team player in all her pursuits, from choosing an academic discipline she said ‘changed my perspective on the world and the very important challenges that we need to work together to overcome’ to the passion she brought to the Cardinal women’s soccer program and to women’s sports in general.

“Fiercely competitive, Katie made two critical saves in a penalty shootout against North Carolina to help Stanford win its third NCAA women’s soccer championship in 2019. Katie was a bright shining light for so many on the field and in our community.

“There are no words to express the emptiness that we feel at this moment. We are reaching out to all of you in our community, because this impacts all of us. Please know that you are not alone.

“Please join us in offering our deepest condolences to her parents and sisters.

“We would also like to extend our heartfelt condolences to Katie’s friends, hallmates, classmates, teammates, faculty and coaches.”

The California native majored in international relations and minored in history and had two sisters, Samantha and Siena.

Counselling staff have been made available to student-athletes in Stanford as they attempted to deal with the loss of their team captain.